The Art of Healthy Living. Denise Kelly

money, staying healthy, keeping fit, teaching others, being inspired, and inspiring others: it was all beginning to be a possibility. In order to be successful, gaining strength in your body and your mind helps you to see things clearly that will help you to get there. For so long I focused on the negative, but that is the biggest waste of energy for any human being.

       Don’t focus on your problems, focus on your dreams.

      Life is 90% what it throws at you and 10% about your reaction.

      Believe and achieve … and I am about to tell you exactly how to do that.

      CHAPTER 3

      GET YOUR DUCKS IN A ROW

      Whatever is going on in your life you need to find the strength to keep your health robust. Whether you are feeling fabulous already and just want to learn more in order to maintain that, or you have hit a life crisis such as a bereavement, divorce, loss of finances, loss of your job, heartbreak, addiction, etc. Or maybe you have great ambition and wish to climb the ladder of success, and know you are going to need a shedload of brain power and energy in order to achieve such things. If your health is resilient and strong, it’s surprising what you can cope with.

      If you have any stress at all in your life – and most of us do in one way or another – you need to raise your ‘health‐enhancing game’ and put all your efforts into keeping your energy and vibrancy high. When your body is stressed it needs all the nutrient‐rich foods it can get. Imagine an intravenous drip of goodness filling your body with the best vitamins and minerals nature has provided. That is what I teach my clients to do daily, and the results are phenomenal. I don’t mean endless supplements and pill‐popping, so you are rattling as you walk down the street. I mean good old‐fashioned whole foods, superfoods, juices, and smoothies. If you power your body with these life‐enhancing foods, it does not mean that you will simply forget about your problems, or that your heartache will go away. It just means you will have the power to deal with them without collapsing in a burnt‐out heap in a year from now.

      When you go through an emotional time in your life, your body goes into fight or flight mode. This is OK temporarily, as our bodies are designed to warn us if there is danger lurking. Your breathing will become faster, your body will release stress hormones to cause your blood vessels to constrict and divert more oxygen to your muscles, so that you have more strength to take action. But this raises your blood pressure and elevates the cortisol levels in your body, which, over a prolonged period of time, can interfere with your learning, memory, immune function, bone density, and cholesterol levels. Your nervous system releases a truckload of adrenaline, which sends your body into a hyper overload. With the crazy‐ass pace that most of us live at, this intense level of stress will eventually start to affect your sleep, leaving you feeling depressed and despondent. Your digestion will suffer in all areas: bowel movements, acid reflux, etc. (In Chinese medicine, your digestion is the root of your health and if that goes out of kilter you are in trouble).

This has the potential to send your hormones into overdrive affecting fertility, sex drive, and moods and can cause increased feelings of unhappiness. Your skin becomes dry and ages more quickly, your hair and nails can thin and lose that beautiful shine. Not to mention the extreme seriousness of how it can rapidly weaken your heart. Apparently, when your heart is broken, perhaps in the case of a bereavement or lost romance, it almost doubles your risk of a heart attack or stroke. Emotional stress can kill. So while taking care of yourself might be far down the list as you deal with your stressful situation, looking after your health should be your number one priority!

      If you look at someone and they are gorgeously glowing, they have a huge smile on their face, and positive words seem to just flow out of their mouth, how attractive is that? Someone who exudes health and vigour is going to be noticeable. If you wish to change something about your health, your life, and your mindset, you have to put in the groundwork. If you are an entrepreneur, or you want to climb the ladder of success in life/business (and that will mean something completely different to everyone) it is vital that you get your ducks in a row and work out what you need and when. Like anything in life, it doesn’t just land in your lap. Some of us are born with a naturally stronger constitution than others and come from a stock of ‘good genes’ but even you – and you know who you are, because you brag about it over a pint at the pub – are at risk if you don’t look after yourself properly.

      My background training was in naturopathic nutritional healing. This means that my learning includes many different health systems utilizing a variety of different treatments in order to get well. I chose that path because I do not believe that one system alone is a cure for all. I like to understand many different elements of health that have spanned thousands of years before us, because although we have the most incredible medical advances that save lives every single day, I have my personal views on why so many people are so sick nowadays and, scarily, my own age bracket (forties) and younger are by far the worst that I see. The forty‐somethings and below have the most toxic bodies I see in my clinics and they are the most stressed and those with the least amount of genuine energy.

      What I mean by genuine energy is not the kind that’s fuelled by coffee, tea, or energy drinks. That is fake energy and the biggest mistake you can make when you are tired and exhausted is to reach for stimulants. When I visit companies, if there is a glass office and I am having a meeting in there, the number of people I observe refilling their coffees during a two‐hour period is alarming! I don’t think coffee itself is actually bad. Just ensure, as with all food and drink that you purchase, that it’s great quality, but moderation is key. In my opinion just one or two cups a day is ample if you love it, and there is research to show that it can have health benefits such as positively helping in the prevention of Parkinson’s disease, type 2 diabetes, and liver disease.

However, if you are a stressed‐out bunny, feeling like you will hit the deck if you don’t have your caffeine fix, mark my words: you do not need that extra cup. Why? The overuse of stimulants when you are already stressed to the max will weaken your immune system, create cravings for high salt and sugar foods, aid weight gain, and completely crush your ability to handle any stress whatsoever. Even remarkably simple tasks such as deciding what you are going to have for dinner that evening could potentially create feelings of anger, uneasiness, and anxiety and be completely overwhelming. Basically, if you feel like this you are in ‘anxiety overload’ and your emotions will be like a ship in a storm. In that case it would be wise to make different decisions about what you are putting into that preciously fabulous body of yours.

      I remember once in the 1990s being on a ship crossing the Atlantic from Portugal to San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 30‐foot waves. Almost the entire ship, including me, had to have injections in their buttocks to stop the continuous throwing up. The lifts were full of vomit, as were the corridors, the cabins, and the beauty salon. It was quite a scene! And that will be the analogy of your life if you choose to stay in adrenal overload. I don’t mean you are literally going to be vomiting uncontrollably in random corridors. But your life will be chaotic and out of control. If you think this is you, do not fear, all is not lost because with the correct balance of foods and nourishing drinks you will bring yourself back into line, and it may not take as long as you think. This is the beauty of what nature gave us. It’s all here, ready for us to take full advantage of to help regain our balance. It’s remarkably clever!

      When it comes to helping make a person well, I like to apply all sorts of considerations when dealing with disease. For example, Chinese medicine considers the laws of nature, the environment around us, and the natural physical response of the nervous system to help create harmony. They see the body as a whole: not only defined by the organs and systems it carries, but also as the home of the mind and spirit. Have you ever noticed when you travel on holiday you feel a certain way? Different in mood? Maybe more relaxed? More peaceful